What the Cat Dragged In
by QueenCheetah
Summary: AU- The bad thing about pranks, is that they sometimes backfire... but not always in the worst of ways... Tendershipping BxR


"Heh... this is _perfect_."

Bakura Touzokou's face was spread in a wide grin as he walked confidently down the Domino City sidewalk. The cardboard box in his hands occasionally shifted, and a few quizzical sounds could be heard from inside. The devious teenager double-checked the package multiple times as he carried on. He smirked at the soft mews emanating from the box.

"Oh, don't worry little guy, you'll be home soon... if your owner's smart enough."

It had all started a few minutes ago- Bakura had been walking home from school (he'd been kept late in detention again) when he heard an odd sound.

"Prrrow?" A small, white cat was trying to wind its way around his legs. He glared down at the unfamiliar feline, but the young animal wasn't dissuaded.

"Go on, _get_!" The irritated punk hissed at the tiny tag-along. But the soft little felid paid him no mind, happily rubbing against his ankles while purring.

"Tch..." He tried to step forward at a brisk pace (he couldn't run; heaven knows what would happen if word got out that he had been seen _running_ from a kitten!) but the white-furred pest only trotted after him like a faithful dog.

Bakura stopped and leered down at the bothersome little cat. Normally, he wasn't a big fan of small animals, but this one _refused_ to leave him alone. Frustrated, the annoyed teen finally picked up the stupid fuzzball, only to find that it was wearing a collar. And the metal ID tag on the collar had an address engraved on it- an address that he knew quite well.

"Oh, this is _brilliant_." His face quickly shifted to a wicked smirk. He knew that address because every Halloween (and sometimes on other nights) he slunk over there, under the cover of darkness, and proceeded to throw as many eggs and toilet paper rolls as he could carry at said house.

Yes, the address in question belonged to his biggest rival, the ever-arrogant and overly-popular fool, Yami Atemu.

Bakura's scarlet eyes narrowed as he pictured the wild-haired runt. The five-foot-nothing brat had irked him for years. They'd both gone to the same schools since kindergarten, and each found the other entirely insufferable. As they grew older, Yami developed into a bit of a local idol, with most of the girls (and some of the guys) swooning and fawning over him. A brazen goody-two-shoes, he was also an incorruptible snitch; and he often called out Bakura and his best friend Marik for plotting all sorts of pranks and heists. Bakura snorted as he reflected on their most recent run-in.

The only reason he'd even _had_ detention earlier today was because the self-righteous jack*ss had caught him planting laxatives in the teacher's lounge supply of headache medication.

'Tch... another brilliant prank, ruined by that humorless, unshakeable _prude_.' Bakura glanced down at the small puffball resting blissfully in his arms, and chuckled darkly. 'Well, looks like it's time for some _payback_.'

He soon came across an empty cardboard box discarded in a nearby alley, and convinced the young cat to sit inside. So now he was walking briskly towards the house, just picturing how he could torture the posh jerk who owned the white fluff.

'Should I ask for a monetary reward? Or maybe I should just demand that he reveal some dirty little secret, so I can hold it over him forever... ah, so many _possibilities_!' The overly-excited punk laughed out loud, startling several other pedestrians. But he paid them no mind, and soon his feet had led him to the front porch of a modest, two-story home.

His grin barely faded as he rang the gold-toned doorbell. He could hear two people talking inside, and suddenly a familiar face appeared in the glass pane on the front door.

Bakura nearly chuckled at the way Yami's face fell as he recognized the 'visitor.' The pompous swot quickly opened the door just enough to slip outside and close it behind him.

"Bakura." Yami growled in an unwelcoming tone. "What an unexpected displeasure... but I will warn you; I am NOT in the mood to put up with your childish nonsense right now." The shorter man glanced backwards before adding sternly, "if you're here to waste my time with some pathetic prank, I suggest you _shove off_ _right_ _ **now**_."

"Oh, I think you'll find this of interest, _Yami_." Bakura held up the box, which let out a well-timed mew.

"That's-!" But before the other teen could fully respond, the front door opened again.

"Yami?" A soft voice called out tremulously. "Is- is that the printer with the quote for the missing cat posters?"

Bakura felt his mouth go dry. He stared, transfixed, at the unusual youth waiting shyly just beyond the front door. His hair was so soft and white; like a cloud spun from silk. His skin was a flawless ivory; pale and perfect like a porcelain doll. And his eyes were a warm, gentle hickory-tone; wide and sweet and kind. But they were also faintly tinged with red, and his cheeks had small drops of dewy moisture clinging to them.

He'd clearly been crying.

"..." Unable to speak, Bakura simply held up the box. He could guess why this angelic vision was sobbing, and he felt his mind growing blank as he proffered the solution.

"Hmm? Yami, you had them printed already?" The boy sounded surprised, clearly unaware of what was going on. Suddenly, the lid of the cardboard box lifted up, and the small cat poked his head out with a hopeful noise.

"Mew?"

"Oh, _YUKI_!" The pale boy gasped when he saw his beloved little kitten staring hopefully back. "Oh, my poor Yu-kitty! Where were you? Are you alright?!" He quickly lifted the precious bundle from the box and began to pepper the confused kitten's forehead with light kisses. "Oh, that was _horrible_ -! I was worried _sick_ \- don't you ever do that again!"

Yami stared uneasily at the still-silent punk. "My cousin, Ryou, moved in with me last week; however we had to have some additional furniture delivered this morning."

Ryou chimed in, still unaware of the animosity lingering in the air. "One of the moving guys propped the door open, not realizing that I had a young cat..."

Bakura finally spoke, although his voice sounded rather unfocused. "...and he ran outside."

Yami nodded firmly while his cousin resumed talking to the tiny pet. "Naughty little boy- you should know better by now!" Ryou playfully chastised the oblivious kitten. "Heaven knows what could've happened- you might have run into a big, mean dog!"

"Or a mischievous punk." Yami glared meaningfully at the unwanted visitor. But the overjoyed owner paid no attention to his pessimistic relative.

"Oh, this is absolutely wonderful\- _thank you_ , _**thank you!**_ " Ryou finally turned his attention to their unannounced guest, his gratitude evident in his smile. "I'm so very glad you found him- we didn't get the 'lost' posters printed up yet, but I was planning on listing a reward- let me just grab my wallet-"

But Bakura held up one hand and shook his head. "Not necessary. I'm just glad he's back home."

Yami looked like he was ready to fall over- since when did the shameless deviant Bakura show even a _sliver_ of a morality?! If there was ever anyone who could truly claim to be born without any ethics, surely it was this unprincipled basta-

"Oh? If you're certain... still, it'd be nice if I could do _something_ to thank you..." Ryou's face fell into an adorable mixture of bewilderment and consideration as he held the rescued kitten closer.

The notorious delinquent seemed to regain some of his senses, and he slowly offered, "...well, you said you're new in town... maybe I could... show you around, sometime?"

Yami's magenta eyes lit up with furious realization. _'So THAT'S it!'_

Ryou's face flushed slightly, and his mouth dropped in a small 'o' shape. But before he could respond, he felt his relative wrap one arm around his left elbow. Yami then tried to steer his cousin back inside, but when Ryou didn't budge, he quietly murmured: "uh, cousin? If I could have a word with you-?"

Both Ryou and Yuki tilted their heads in mirrored naivety. "Hmm? Why, Yami?"

Frustrated, the older teen bit his tongue as he tried to protect his uninformed relative. "Fine, then I shall have a word with your... _tour guide_ while you tend to Yuki."

Ryou looked confused, but nodded once before taking the fuzzy runaway back inside the home.

Yami instantly rounded on the other Domino High student, a scowl covering his sharp features. "Listen here, _Bakura_ : my only cousin is living with me due to a family tragedy- his mother and younger sister were both killed in a car accident a few months ago. His father has no choice but to travel for his job, so I offered to let Ryou stay with me while he adjusted to everything." The shorter teen paused before running a hand through his multicolored hair. "Ryou is in deep pain, and nearly losing his beloved pet today was almost unbearable. The last thing he needs right now is more tension and anxiety." Yami's magenta orbs narrowed as he glared at the taller student. "I cannot stop him from going out with you, but I promise, if you should do _**anything**_ to jeopardize my cousin's comfort and safety; I will _slowly_ and _painfully_ poison you in a subtle way that will appear to be just another one of your 'ill-planned pranks' gone wrong. _Got it_ _?_ "

For the first time in his life, Bakura Touzokou felt the tiniest shred of respect towards his rival. Not that he would ever admit it, of course. "Understood- rest assured, I know what it's like to lose most of one's family."

Yami appeared surprised by this statement- apparently he wasn't fully aware of the other's past. But before he could voice any questions, Ryou interrupted again. "Yami? I'm sorry, but my friend Malik just called- he wants to come over and see if Yuki's alright. Is that ok with you?"

"Fine, fine." The homeowner tiredly nodded. He knew his cousin's oldest friend would cheer him up- albeit at the expense of any of Yami's remaining sanity. "Just... tell him no canned beets. Or any other dark-colored foodstuffs."

"Oh, you heard about his organic clothing-dye experiments?" Ryou let out a faint chuckle as he shook his head. "No worries; his sister nearly throttled him after he stained their bathtub purple. He's given up on that particular trend for now."

"Thank heavens." Yami muttered under his breath, but his relief faded as he realized that Bakura Touzokou was still standing on his front porch. "And what are you still doing here?"

"Oh? I'm waiting for an answer, of course." Folded his arms and allowed a hint of a smirk to cross his face. "I'm not that easy to get rid of, you know."

Yami turned to head inside, muttering under his breath: "I'm willing to bet there's some industrial pesticides that would do the trick..." But he left the two white-haired students to talk while he prepared for Malik's visit. 'I should really see how many headache tablets we have left...' The wild-haired teen made his way towards the upstairs medicine cabinet.

Thus Ryou was left holding Yuki as he engaged the 'good' Samaritan. "Thank you again, for finding him. Um, if I'm not being too forward... might I ask how you know my cousin?"

The dazed punk could barely respond. "We've been... sort of rivals at school. For years now. We don't exactly see 'eye-to-eye' on a lot of things, and I _might_ have pulled one or two pranks on him..." Bakura admitted with an unabashed shrug.

Ryou let out a light chuckle as he absentmindedly stroked Yuki's back. "I would very much like to hear some of those stories... I know he can be a bit... uptight at times; but it's nice to hear that Yami's just as human as the rest of us."

Hearing this pale angel literally admit to his rival's 'stick-in-the-mud' tendencies... it was like a divine voice whispering soothing spells directly into his ears. He felt himself growing strangely light-headed as the gentle voice spoke on. Bakura was fairly certain he was going to pass out soon, and he was strangely ok with that fact. Nevertheless, he definitely wanted to ask one more question before drifting away on the blissful endorphins flooding his mind.

"If you'd like me to tell some of those tales, I'll need your number."

Ryou gave a shy nod as he single-handedly dug a pen and notepad from the hall end table's drawers, carefully balancing the kitten in his other arm.

Further inside the house, Yami had just taken his first headache dose of the evening. With Malik dropping by, he would undoubtedly be returning to the same jar later...

But something was off. He hadn't noticed it at first, but after swallowing Yami realized the pill he'd taken was slightly larger than the normal tablets of this brand.

'Did they change the size of the doses?' He glanced quizzically inside the bottle of 'Pain-Away'. His eyes widened in shock as he realized there were _two_ types of gold-colored tablets mixed in with each other- one was a slightly darker yellow, and fairly larger. He quickly dug out one of the foreign objects, staring with horror as he read the name engraved on both sides of the tablet.

' _Lax-Eaze_... but _that's_ a-!'

Downstairs, Ryou and Bakura were still chatting cheerfully. Bakura had just given Ryou his own cell number when a loud voice bellowed from somewhere up on the second story of the house.

" _ **BAKURAAAA! "**_

The prankster blinked before realizing his time was up. "I... gotta go. So, see you Saturday?"

Ryou grinned as he added, "it's a date."

There was a sound of thunderous footfalls on the inside steps, and Bakura hastily ran off, hardly believing his good fortune. Despite the 'victory' over his rival, only one thought was running across the troublemaker's mind: 'Is it Saturday yet?'

Meanwhile, Yami was standing on the front stoop, cursing and bellowing after the retreating deviant. He was tempted to run after the punk, but he wasn't sure how quickly the swapped pill would take effect. "That miserable cretin better be wearing _body armor_ when he comes by this weekend!" The furious teen promised vengefully as he stormed back into the house.

Ryou couldn't help but let out a light chuckle as he followed his irate cousin back inside. He'd heard Yami ranting about the teacher's lounge incident earlier, and he had a feeling this prank was of a similar nature. He glanced down at the bewildered kitten still resting peacefully in his arms.

"While I really don't like you running off, I must say 'thank you' for finding me such an incredible date."

Yuki gave a pleased mew as the front door closed behind them both.


End file.
